Orange and Cocoa Harvesting

Our first trip to Tapovan Brasso for 2017

Fresh on the heels of a powerful and joyous New Year’s Eve Satsang, an enthusiastic group of 10 devotees set off as the sun rose on Monday 2nd January, for a morning picking oranges and cocoa in Tapovan. Whilst we always work with whatever resources we have, larger groups have a special energy that is always extra inspiring.

As we walked in along the muddy and overgrown, but still graded Mamoral Valley Road, we encountered a number of fallen trees, no doubt as a result of heavy rain in December. We were without the large chainsaw but did what we could with manpower and blades (cutlasses).

Saraswati walking in along the Mamoral Valley Road

Ramdas, Dale and Kussial getting stuck into one of the fallen trees

We also found a small tarantula, which had been disturbed, but fortunately not squashed, after Aarti slipped in the mud.

Small tarantula, not sure who was more scared!

The orange trees were ready for us and as many oranges as the team could carry out were picked from 2 trees, with more to look forward to on future trips. Of course sampling for quality control was necessary! Somehow oranges from Tapovan taste even better when eaten on the land itself, fresh from the tree.

Ramdas and Krishnapriya testing the oranges

We were also able to pick a bucket of cocoa, and happily reacquainted ourselves with the fun of extracting the beans from the pods – much less to carry that way.

Aarti and Kavi splitting the cocoa pods and Arya and Saraswati extracting the wet beans

Arya and Saraswati making sure every bean is accounted for

No trip to Tapovan would be complete without formal meditation, and we were blessed to listen to one of Guruji’s meditations, whilst sitting in the breeze, serenaded by the birds, the rustling leaves and a few persistent mosquitoes.

Lakshmana, Arya and Saraswati enjoying Guruji’s guidance

Finally, it was time to head back to the vehicles, up and down the muddy road, with the bountiful harvest.

Heading back out to the vehicles, putting our balancing skills to the test!

Lakshmana showing real skill – taking a selfie whilst carrying a bag of oranges on his head

The Universe was looking after us as we had just enough time to get to the vehicles and change clothes, and as we were praying, it started to rain!

Time in Tapovan is a wonderful workout for the physical body and an even better one for the energy body, and we look forward to our next adventure on the land. If you cannot be with us in person, do continue to hold this Divine project in love and light.

LEARN MORE ABOUT US

Privacy & Cookies: We use cookies on our website, and certain parts of our site such as the web store or membership pages store some of your personal information. Of course we are very careful with all of your data and do not use these in any disrespectful ways! This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. More information can be found here:
Privacy Policy

Recent Posts

Dress Code

We would like everyone to have the most comfortable and productive visit ever to the Blue Star Centre. Proper dress is an important part of this wish for you. As we are in a tropical environment, loose clothing, especially of cotton and linen, will be the coolest. Do keep in mind we are in a spiritual environment, so we ask you to wear modest clothing that is loose and covers the shoulders and knees.
We understand there are cultural differences in manners of dress, so please contact us for specifics so that you may pack accordingly. It is our pleasure to serve you.

Information on Payment Options

Below you will find information on the different payment options we currently offer on our site using credit card payment through Stripe or PayPal. Please read the section that is relevant to your situation.

Please note that payments on our website for Blue Star Trinidad & Tobago are going through our Blue Star Canada account, so if you are using PayPal you will see Blue Star Canada on the payment page.

Please select the option “Creditcard Payment through Stripe” and you can directly fill in your credit card number, the expiry date (MM/YY) and the CVC code that you can find on the back of your card.
Even though you can also use your credit card via PayPal, we prefer it if you use Stripe as this has lower transaction fees for us.

You need to create a PayPal account in order to purchase or donate anything through our website. Unfortunately we are experiencing a bug that even when you click on Create New account while paying through our website and PayPal, you still get a form where you need to fill in your creditcard. However, you do not need to have a creditcard in order to make a PayPal account, because you can couple your PayPal account to your local bank account. We ask you to:

Use either this link, or use Google to search for ‘Create PayPal account’ in your local language and set up an account directly from the PayPal website in your language. You need to fill in your bank information and a credit card is not necessary.

Then login to this PayPal account while you are making the payment on our website.